4.5.3 Discussion List: Participants

All participants in the discussion volunteered themselves after having seen the invitation/announcement about CREDO and CREO which was sent out to other lists in the Internet (see Appendix B). Immediately following their subscription, participants were sent an initial message (see Appendix E), a welcome message (see Appendix F) outlining procedures for unsubscribing , a form indicating their willingness to participate in the study (see Appendix G) and guidelines for participation in the list (see Appendix H). As well, all questionnaires contained an invitation to participate in the discussion list. While some of the individuals who completed the questionnaire agreed to join the CREDO list, none posted any messages.

The participants represented a select sample or group in the sense that they would all possess a minimum level of skill in use of the Internet. To be able to receive the initial message, they had to have been already subscribed to a discussion list because it was through the discussion lists that the invitation was distributed. Participation in a discussion list implies that the user has established an Internet account, has achieved a basic comfort level in the use of e-mail and is familiar with how to subscribe to discussion lists. As such, the participants in the CREDO and CREO lists represented Internet users as opposed to non-Internet users.

Demographic information on the participants was provided by means of an introduction to the group which each individual was asked to provide using a "template" in the form of the introduction of the researcher to the group (see Appendix I). Not all participants adopted the format of the introduction template. Thus, some participants provided more demographic information than others. This study did not aim to focus on or control for any variables related to gender, experience, programs, or geographic location. The demographic information was necessary for both the researcher and the participants in order to contextualize certain comments particularly in relation to the grade and program that the individual was teaching.

The individuals came from diverse backgrounds with a range in teaching experience from pre-kindergarten to college and university level. The majority of participants were, however, teaching school-age children. Core French and French Immersion programs were represented among the participants. Many of them had been involved in Internet projects and some were intensely involved in integrating the Internet into their teaching. Numerous continents were represented by the participants. While the majority of CREDO participants were from Canada and the U.S.A., there were also participants from Australia and Austria. In the CREO list, there were participants primarily from Europe i.e., France and Italy. However, there were also some participants from South America, Africa and Québec.